Shaver



SHAVER A. ALEXAY Filed Oct. 31, 1940 Invent or', v Adalbert Alexag,

His Attorney.

IIIIXIXIIIIIIFYPIK v Jan. 26, 1943.

l l l I IL Patented Jan. 26, 1943 2,309,431 smivna Adalbert Alexay,

General Electric New York Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to Company, a corporation of Application October :1, 1940, Serial No. 3 3,704

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to shavers of the type having a face-engaging cutter or cutting head and a cooperating cutter. In prior shavers of this type only a relatively small part of the cutting surfaces has been eifective.

The object of my invention is to provide a shaver in which the eifective cutting surface is increased. For a consideration of what I believe novel and my invention, attention is directed to the following description and the claims appended thereto.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a shaver embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the cutters and the driving mechanism therefor; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the cutters; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the cutters, partly broken away and with one of the cutters removed Referring to the drawing, there is shown a shaver having a split casing I housing a suitable electric motor which is connected to a conductor cord 2 extending through one end of the casing. vAt the opposite end of the casing are bolted spring supports 3 carrying adjacent cutting heads 4 and 5. As shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, the spring supports 3 comprise base portions 6 and 6 which are bolted to the casing, and upwardly extending spring arms I and 8 respectively. The outer ends of the spring arms I are provided with seats 9 for receiving :opposite ends of the cutting head 4, the cutting head being rigidlyclamped between the seats by a through bolt III. The cutting head 5 is similarly supported in seats I I on the spring arms 8 and isclamped between the seats by athrough bolt I2. The spring arms I and 8 support the cutting heads for reciprocating or vibratory movementrelative to the casing. Each of the cutting heads comprises an outer cylindrical portion I3 and a shank l4 received in a stiifening member l5 which in effect constitutes a carrier for the cutting head. The stiffening member I5 is clamped between the spring supporting arms and constitutes a rigid support for the cutting head. The cutting head can conveniently be made from a single piece of thin sheet metal by forming the sheet so that the opposite edges provide the shank I4 and the intermediate part of the sheet provides the cylindrical portion I3. The cylindrical portion of the cutting head is provided with hair-receiving openings in the form of transverse slots I6 provided at alternate ends with circular openings II. Since the face-contacting surface of the cutting head is convex, the

central part is pressed into closest engagement with the skin surface.

, head is provided with the relatively narrow slots against the which may be from .007 to .010 of an inch wide. The larger circular openings l1, being at opposite ends of the slots, are not pressed as tightly against the skin surface and there is accordingly no danger that the skin will enter the circular openings'to an extent sufilcient to cause injury.

Between the cutting heads 4 and 5 is a stationary guard or guide plate I8 having a rounded outer end l9 which engages the skin and holds it stationary. The inner end of the guide plate I8 is rigidly clamped between the parts of the casing. The rounded end I9 of the guard is slotted to provide teeth Illa which act as a comb for long hair and at the eifectively from moving sideways with the cut-- ting heads.

Within the cutting, heads are cylindrical cutters 20 each provided with spaced cutting bars 2| beneath the slots l6 and openings I! of the cutting head. The cutters 20 are reciprocated through arms 22 the upper ends of which project through openings 23 in the cutting heads and are received in recesses 24 in the cutters. The arms 22 are preferably resilient and are arranged to exert an outward pressure on the cutters 28 so as to force the cutters tightly under side of the cutting heads. At the inner ends the arms 22 terminate in a sleeve 25 which fits over the upper end of a lever 26. The arms 22 and the lever 26 extend through an opening 260 in the guide plate I 8.

The cutters 20 are reciprocated by a cam 21 on a shaft 28 which is driven through gears 29 and 36 by a shaft 3| connected to the driving motor. Rotation of the shaft 28 pivots the lever 26 about a pivot 32 ing. causing cutters.

The cutting heads 4 and 5 are reciprocated in opposite directions through earns 33 and 34 on a shaft 35 driven from the shaft 28 through reduction gears 36 and 31, the reciprocation being permitted by the spring arms I and 8. The cams 34 and 35 cooperate with the forked ends 38 and 39 of bell crank levers 40 and.v respectively pivoted on bolts 42 and 43 which extend through bosses 44 on the casing and bosses 45 on the stationary guide plate l8. In addition to serving as pivots for the arms 40 and 4|, the bolts 42 and 43 serve to clamp the parts of the split casing-together. The bell crank levers 40 This part of the cutting same time hold the skin at the lower end of the cas high speed reciprocaton of the 20. The speed of reciprocation of the cutting heads is from one-third to one-fifth that of the cutters. The cutting heads are reciprocated a distance of the order of the spacing betwen the distance approximately equal to its diameter. The hair which is most effectively cut is that which is adjacent the.edges of the openings. The edges of the openings in the cutting head may therefore be termed the active cutting surfaces of the head. The reciprocation of the cutting headbrings the active cutting surface of the head into more effective cooperation with the hair.

slots 16. In the present construction where the slots l6 are approximately .010 of an inch wide and the pitch between the slots is about .030 of an inch, the travel of the cutting heads will be approximately .030 of an inch in order to expose every part of the skin beneath the cutting heads to the slots and scan the whole surface in one pass of the shaver over the skin. There is a limit to the speed of reciprocation of the cutting heads and the sensitivity of the skin. With the present construction it is inadvisable to reciprocate the cutting heads at more than 3,000 reciprocations a minute. The cams 33 and 34 are arranged so that the cutting heads are reciprocated in oposite directions. Each cutting head accordingly tends to stretch the skin between it and the rounded end 19 of the stationary guide plate l8. The teeth lSa on the guide plate are intended to grip the skin and hdid it stationary. It is expected that there will be some slippage between the skin and the reciprocating cutting heads. reciprocating cutting heads .will, however, be sufiicient to stretch the skin and cause the hair to protrude so that it may be more readily received in the slots l6. Due. to the slippage of the cutting heads on the skin, the hair-receiving openings in the cutting head are moved over the skin surface with a scanning action, so that all parts of the skin beneath the cutting head are successively brought into register with the hair-receiving openings. This results in practically complete cutting of the hair beneath the cutting head. In shavers in which the cutting head is fixed on the casing the scanning action is absent, and it is accordingly necessary for the user to repeatedly move the shaver over the same portion of the skin surface in order to cut all of the hair.

' Another advantage of the reciprocating cutting heads is more effective cutting of the hair entering the openings. The openings in the cutting head are much wider than the thickness Hair at the center of the openings can not be cut close to the skin surface since it is spaced from the edges of the openings 9.

The friction between the skin and the which is dependent upon the shape of the skin-engaging portion of the heads head at a relatively slow .the cutting heads stationary,

While the stationary guide plate I! assists the shaving action by holding the skin intermediate it may be omitted.

The inertia of the skin, coupled with the fact that the cutting heads are moving in opposite directions, will tend to hold skin stationary in the. absence guide.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

I 1. In a shaver, adjacent skin-engaging cutting heads having an outer face-engaging surface provided with hair-receiving openings and an inner shearing surface, means for reciprocating the heads at a relatively slow speed, the direction of movement of one of the heads being opposite to the direction of movement of an adjacent head, cutters cooperating with the shearing surface of said heads, and means for reciprocating said cutters at a relatively high speed.

2. In a shaver, a head comprising a stationary face-engaging part and an adjacent relatively thin part movable relative thereto having an outer face-engaging surface provided with hairreceiving openings and an inner shearing surface, means for moving said movable part of the speed, and a high speed cutter cooperating with the inner surface of said movable part for shearing hair projecting through said openings.

3. In a shaver, adjacent cutting heads having an outer face-engaging surface provided with hair-receiving openings and an inner shearing surface, a high speed cutter cooperating with said inner surface to shear'hair projecting through said openings, and means for reciprocating the heads in opposite directions at a speed relatively slow compared to the cutter speed whereby the heads scan the skin surface.

4. In a shaver, a head comprising a'face-engaging part and an adjacent part movable relative thereto having an outer face-engaging surface provided with hair-receiving openings and an inner surface for cooperation with a high speed cutter to shear hair projecting through said openings, and means for moving said adjacent part of the head relative to said face-engaging part whereby said adjacent part of the head scans the skin surface.

this portion of the of the stationary ADALBERT AnnxAY. 

